Smoke Behind the Panel Door
You are the night guard at a two-storey garment stitching unit. At 02:15, on your round, you smell burning plastic from the electrical panel room on the ground floor. Through the door you see smoke and small flames at the base of the panel, and hear crackling. Cardboard cartons are stacked against the same wall. Three extinguishers stand by the door: a red water-based one marked Class A, a black CO2, and a blue ABC dry powder. The muster point is the parking area 30 m away. The night attendance sheet lists 49 workers; the supervisor's headcount at the muster point gives 47. One missing name is a stitching operator who signed in at 22:00. The other is a helper whose name appears on the sheet but has no signature against it. The manual alarm has not been pressed. A colleague shouts that he will run inside to look for the two.
1. Which extinguisher do you use, and what must happen before you use it?
Read the worked answer
This is a fire in energised electrical equipment with Class A cardboard alongside. The water-based Class A extinguisher is the wrong choice: water conducts, and a jet onto a live panel can travel back to the operator. CO2 is the best of the three for the panel; ABC powder works but leaves residue that ruins the board and can blind you in a confined room.
Sequence matters more than the choice:
- Raise the alarm first - shout 'fire', break the manual call point, phone the supervisor and 101. A fire behind a closed panel door can grow while you fight it, and the evacuation takes minutes you cannot get back.
- Isolate the supply at the main switch only if the switch is outside the smoke zone and reachable in a few seconds. If not, leave it.
- Fight only an incipient fire, with the exit at your back, using PASS - pull, aim, squeeze, sweep - horn 1–2 m from the base of the flames.
- If flames reach above head height or the room is filling with smoke, stop and withdraw, closing the door behind you. The building and the stock are insured; you are not.
2. How do you handle the headcount and the colleague who wants to run inside?
Read the worked answer
Reconcile the register with the headcount; never average them or round them for comfort.
- The unsigned helper has probably not reported for the shift at all. Check the contractor register, the washroom and the cycle stand before treating him as missing inside.
- The operator who signed in is the real concern. He was in the building.
- Report the exact figure to the fire officer and, on arrival, to the fire service: 47 present, 49 signed, two names with the status of each. Their search priority depends on this; a softened number can leave someone inside.
- Refuse the colleague's plan clearly. An untrained person entering a smoke-filled room becomes the second casualty and forces a rescue. Block the door if needed, name him to the supervisor, and log the time and what you said.
- Re-entry only by the fire brigade with breathing apparatus. No exceptions for 'just a quick look'.
3. What must your fire incident report contain, and what must it not contain?
Read the worked answer
Include: time the smell was noticed (02:15), time the alarm was raised, time the extinguisher was used and its type, capacity and refill-tag number, time the supply was isolated and by whom, time the fire service arrived, the headcount figures with the two names and their status, the assembly point, and any injury.
Describe damage as observed, not as concluded: 'panel charred up to about 0.5 m, four cartons burnt' rather than 'loss of ₹2 lakh'.
Leave out: guesses at cause ('probably a short circuit'), blame of the electrician, and rupee estimates. An inquiry will ask how you knew; you did not.
Preserve the scene: do not reset the breaker or clear the cartons. The electrical inspector and the insurer will need the panel as it is. Hand the used extinguisher to stores against its tag number for refilling and record that too. Sign, date and time the report, keep a copy, and get an acknowledgement from the supervisor who receives it.